Misplaced Pages

Australia have competed in international rugby union matches since 1889. They compete in the annual Rugby Championship series and have appeared at every Rugby World Cup, winning the tournament in 1991 and 1999 and finishing second in 2003 and 2015. The records listed below only include performances in Test matches. The top five are listed in each category (except when there is a tie for the last place among the five, when all the tied record holders are noted).

Team records

Greatest winning margins

Opponent	Venue	Competition	Date	Score	Margin	Ref.
Namibia	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	2003 Rugby World Cup	25 October 2003	142–0	142
Japan	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	2007 Rugby World Cup	8 September 2007	91–3	88
Spain	Campo Universitario, Madrid	2001 Australia tour of Europe	1 November 2001	92–10	82
Romania	Lang Park, Brisbane	2003 Rugby World Cup	18 October 2003	90–8	82
England	Lang Park, Brisbane	1998 England tour of Australasia and South Africa	6 June 1998	76–0	76
Tonga	Canberra Stadium, Canberra	1999 Rugby World Cup Qualification – Third Round	22 September 1998	74–0	74
Western Samoa	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	1994 Western Samoa tour of Australia	6 August 1994	73–3	70
Samoa	Stadium Australia, Sydney	2005 June International	11 June 2005	74–7	67
Canada	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane	1996 Canada tour of Australia	29 June 1996	74–9	65
United States	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	2011 Rugby World Cup	23 September 2011	67–5	62
Uruguay	Villa Park, Birmingham	2015 Rugby World Cup	27 September 2015	65–3	62

Greatest losing margins

Opponent	Venue	Competition	Date	Score	Margin	Ref.
South Africa	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg	2008 Tri Nations Series	30 August 2008	53–8	45
Argentina	Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López, Santa Fe	2024 Rugby Championship	7 September 2024	67–27	40
South Africa	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria	1997 Tri Nations Series	23 August 1997	61–22	39
New Zealand	Stadium Australia, Sydney	2020 Tri Nations Series	31 October 2020	5–43	38
	Athletic Park, Wellington	1996 Tri Nations Series	6 July 1996	43–6	37
	Eden Park, Auckland	2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up match	17 August 2019	36–0	36
	Eden Park, Auckland	1972 Australia tour of New Zealand and Fiji	16 September 1972	38–3	35
	Eden Park, Auckland	2021 Rugby Championship	14 August 2021	57–22	35
Wales	Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Décines-Charpieu	2023 Rugby World Cup	24 September 2023	40–6	34
Argentina	Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan	2022 Rugby Championship	13 August 2022	48–17	31
South Africa	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria	2023 Rugby Championship	8 July 2023	43–12	31
New Zealand	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	2023 Rugby Championship	29 July 2023	7–38	31

Player records

Appearances and caps

Tries and points

Match records

Points

Player	Venue	Competition	Opponent	Date	Score	Score invovlements				Points	Ref.
						Tries	Con.	Pen.	Drop.
Mat Rogers	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	2003 Rugby World Cup	Namibia	25 October 2003	142–0	2	16	0	0	42
Matt Burke	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane	1996 Canada tour of Australia	Canada	29 June 1996	74–9	3	9	2	0	39
Elton Flatley	Lang Park, Brisbane	2003 Rugby World Cup	Romania	18 October 2003	90–8	1	11	1	0	30
Stirling Mortlock	Docklands Stadium, Melbourne	Mandela Challenge Plate	South Africa	8 July 2000	44–23	2	2	5	0	29
James O'Connor	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	2010 Autumn International	France	27 November 2010	16–59	1	6	4	0	29
Bernard Foley	Twickenham Stadium, London	2015 Rugby World Cup	England	3 October 2015	33–13	2	3	4	0	28
Michael Lynagh	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane	1995 Argentina tour of Australia	Argentina	30 April 1995	53–7	2	3	4	0	28
Matt Giteau	Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier	2007 Rugby World Cup	Fiji	23 September 2007	55–12	2	4	3	0	27
Matt Burke	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	1998 Scotland tour of Australia and Fiji	Scotland	13 June 1998	45–3	1	4	4	0	25
	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	1999 Rugby World Cup final	France	6 November 1999	35–12	0	2	7	0	25
	Docklands Stadium, Melbourne	2001 British & Irish Lions tour of Australia	British and Irish Lions	7 July 2001	35–14	1	1	6	0	25
Ben Donaldson	Stade de France, Seint-Denis	2023 Rugby World Cup	Georgia	9 September 2023	35–15	2	3	3	0	25
Chris Latham	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	2003 Rugby World Cup	Namibia	25 October 2003	142–0	5	0	0	0	25

Tries

Player	Venue	Competition	Opponent	Date	Score	Tries	Ref.
Chris Latham	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	2003 Rugby World Cup	Namibia	25 October 2003	142–0	5
Greg Cornelsen	Eden Park, Auckland	1978 Australia tour of New Zealand	New Zealand	9 September 1978	30–16	4
David Campese	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	1983 United States tour of Australia	United States	9 July 1983	49–3	4
Jason Little	Canberra Stadium, Canberra	1999 Rugby World Cup Qualification – Third Round	Tonga	22 September 1998	74–0	4
Chris Latham	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane	2000 Argentina of Australia	Argentina	17 June 2000	53–6	4
Lote Tuqiri	Docklands Stadium, Melbourne	2005 June International	Italy	25 June 2005	69–21	4
Twenty two players						3

See also

• List of Australia national rugby union team test match results

Notes

1. ^ Updated to 21 December 2024. However, ESPNscrum statistics are until 2016.

References

1. "Australia – Team Records". ESPNscrum. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
2. Morse, Ben (27 September 2023). "'What chance did we have': Remembering Namibia's record-breaking 142–0 Rugby World Cup defeat". CNN Sports. Archived from the original on 31 January 2024.
3. "Australia annihilate Namibia". BBC Sport. 25 October 2003.
4. "Australia 91–3 Japan". BBC Sport. 8 September 2007.
5. "Wallabies storm into record books". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 October 2003.
6. Watt, Stuart (18 October 2003). "Wallabies demolish Romania". ABC News. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016.
7. Richards, Huw (7 June 2018). "England's 1998 Tour from Hell to Australia, South Africa and New Zealand". ESPNscrum.
8. "Sport: Rugby Union – Australia 76 England 0". BBC Sport. 6 June 1998.
9. Wood, Mike (25 October 2022). "Never mind the blowouts: Why Australia must do more to make future World Cups better". The Roar.
10. "Wallabies pulverise Western Samoa: Rugby union". The Independent. 6 August 1994.
11. "Wallabies thrash Samoa". ABC News. 11 June 2005.
12. Cleary, Mick; Griffiths, John, eds. (1997). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook, 1998–98. Rothmans Publications. pp. 334–335.
13. Lutz, Tom (23 September 2011). "Rugby World Cup 2011: Australia v USA – as it happened". Guardian Australia. Guardian Media Group.
14. "Rugby World Cup 2011: Australia 67–5 USA". BBC Sport. 23 September 2011.
15. "Rugby World Cup: Wallabies trounce Uruguay, earn bonus point despite fielding second-string side". ABC News. 27 September 2015.
16. "South Africa 53–8 Australia". BBC Sport. 31 August 2008.
17. "Nokwe inspires Boks blitz". Sky Sports. 1 September 2008.
18. Gallan, Daniel (8 September 2024). "Argentina 67–27 Australia: men's rugby union international – as it happened". Guardian Australia. Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 8 September 2024.
19. Drennan, Jonathan; Payten, Iain (8 September 2024). "'Fell off a cliff': Wallabies humiliated by Pumas in biggest ever defeat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 8 September 2024.
20. "Rugby Championship recap: Argentina annihilate Australia in Santa Fe". The New Zealand Herald. New Zealand Media and Entertainment. 8 September 2024. Archived from the original on 8 September 2024. The hosts were down 20–3 before clicking into top gear with 10 minutes to play in the second half, scoring four tries in the last nine minutes. It's the most points the Wallabies have conceded in a test, beating the 61–22 hammering they copped in South Africa in 1997.
21. Williamson, Nathan (8 September 2024). "'Falling off a cliff': Schmidt reacts after stunning Wallabies defeat to Argentina". rugby.com.au. Rugby Australia. Archived from the original on 8 September 2024. It's the most points the Wallabies have conceded in a Test, passing the 61–22 hammering they copped in South Africa in 1997.
22. "Australia thrashed 43–5 by New Zealand in record loss as All Blacks retain Bledisloe Cup in Sydney". ABC News. 31 October 2020.
23. "Bledisloe Cup: New Zealand beat Australia 43–5 to lift trophy for 18th consecutive year". BBC Sport. 31 October 2020.
24. Maharaj, Rajiv (28 October 2015). "The Joy of Six: Australia v New Zealand classic rugby Test matches". Guardian Australia.
25. "'Gutted' Wallabies suffer biggest loss to All Blacks in 117 years as Bledisloe dreams dashed". The Sydney Morning Herald. 31 October 2020. The six-tries-to-one thrashing will go down as Australia's darkest night against the Kiwis, topping the 43–6 defeat in Wellington in 1996. Talk about a turnaround from last year's 47–26 triumph in Perth.
26. Thornley, Gerry (20 August 2019). "Back in Black: New Zealand's 36–0 win leaves Wallabies thunderstruck". The Irish Times.
27. "All Blacks smash Wallabies 36–0". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 August 2019.
28. "The Stats Don't Lie: A decade of Bledisloe dominance?". The New Zealand Herald. 24 August 2012. The most points the All Blacks have scored against the Wallabies at Eden Park was in their 39–10 victory in 2008, while their greatest winning margin at that ground was 38–3 in 1972.
29. "As it happened: All Blacks beat Wallabies 57–22". Radio New Zealand. 14 August 2021.
30. McMorran, Steve (14 August 2021). "New Zealand beats Australia 57–22 to retain Bledisloe Cup". AP News.
31. "WAL 40–6 AUS: Wales crush Australia to book quarter-final berth". World Rugby. 24 September 2023. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023.
32. Griffiths, Gareth (24 September 2023). "Wales 40–6 Australia: Warren Gatland's side hammer Wallabies to seal World Cup quarter-final spot". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023.
33. Smale, Simon (14 August 2022). "Argentina crushes the Wallabies 48–17 in the Rugby Championship, All Blacks stun Springboks in Johannesburg". ABC News. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023.
34. "Springboks steamroll Australia 43–12 in Rugby Championship as Arendse scores hat trick". AP News. 9 July 2023.
35. Decent, Tom (9 July 2023). "'Show some respect': Jones lashes out at reporter after Wallabies suffer horror 43-12 loss to Springboks". The Sydney Morning Herald.
36. Howcroft, Jonathan (29 July 2023). "Bledisloe Cup: Wallabies 7–38 All Blacks – as it happened". Guardian Australia.
37. Statsguru / Ordered by: total matches played, ESPN Scrum, 18 October 2020.
38. Statsguru / Ordered by: total matches played as captain, Scrum, 30 September 2019.
39. Statsguru / Ordered by: total tries scored, Scrum, 30 September 2019.
40. Statsguru / Ordered by: total points scored, Scrum, 30 September 2019.

• Australian records
• Rugby union records and statistics
• Australia national rugby union team lists